THE ROD & GUN CLUB IN EVERGLADES CITY

The self-proclaimed fishing and stone crab capital of southwest Florida, Everglades City is a hidden enclave where a man can escape the hustle of city life and isolate himself on the Florida waters. The gateway to the 10,000 Islands hasn’t grown much in its nearly 150-year existence, and the locals would just as well let it stay that way.

“This is a quiet fishing village with a ton of history,” says local historian Timothy England. “But they don’t see it was history. They don’t see it that way because that’s their lives.”

Some call it island mentality, while others call it Southern rebel pride and stubbornness. Stuck between Fort Myers and Miami, the town is overlooked yet literally sits right in the middle of it all. But even after years of isolation, it’s these locals that keep Everglades City the true Old Florida gem it still is today.

Old Florida Style

Everglades City is located 200 miles south of Tampa and was founded in 1875 by white settlers who set up at the mouth of the 10,000 Islands to trade furs with Chokoloskee Indians. George T. Storter is considered the first homeowner in the city. The Storter family lived in the building that is now the Rod and Gun Club and owned much of Everglades City before Baron Collier came to town in 1923. That’s when the town truly got its start.

An advertising guru and entrepreneur, Collier declared Everglades City as the base for the ambitious statewide road: the Tamiami Trail. Much like Henry Flagler, Collier was renowned for buying giant parcels of land throughout Florida. Everglades City, however, was one of his largest projects. In the 1920s, his goal was to make it into a “model U.S. town,” says England.

Up until 1928, when the trail was officially opened, Collier brought a trolley, electricity, a library and hospital, movie theatres and a three-story department store to the city known for being merely a swamp. Thousands called Everglades City home by 1931. But the Great Depression soon hit, and the town went into regression. The modern frills petered out and the population thinned.

Not much has changed since then, and that’s how the town likes it. During the ’70s, a drug bust swept away several hundred locals to prison and netted nearly 500,000 pounds of marijuana. Two hurricanes nearly wiped the town clear. And the movie producers don’t come knocking on doors as often.

During peak season (Christmas to Easter), the population spikes at around 3,000, some locals say. Tourists come from all over the world to ride the airboats and see the parks. After the surge, the locals are the ones who hunker down and fight off mosquitoes. That’s when they truly rely on their biggest attraction these days: fishing.

Tarpon, snook, mullet, stone crab, spiny lobster — Everglades City is synonymous with the greatest fishing in the state. And if you’re going to come fishing in the ‘Glades, you’d better stay at the historic Rod and Gun Club.

The Rod and Gun

The Rod and Gun Club is undoubtedly the center of this small town known for big fishing. A genuine southern home on the Barron River turned premier fishing club, it was first built in 1864 by George Storter. The hotel has seen several owners — including Collier, who took it over in 1922 — and a few makeovers throughout the years, but it has never changed its status as an upscale watering hole for the rich and famous.

The pecky cypress wood, milled right from the Everglades, still lines the walls of the rustic hotel. Much of the furniture is original and displayed prominently with mounted grouper and tarpon trophies, as well as deer and alligator skins. Through the floors creak and there’s no air conditioning, it hasn’t stopped past presidents and some of the country’s most famous actors from staying at the Rod and Gun.

John Wayne, Ernest Hemingway, Burt Reynolds, Sally Fields, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon and Theodore Roosevelt are just a few of the names that have stayed here. Even though the resort has lost its luster over the years, it’s still respected as a premier hotel of the south. The hospitality is unmatched, and the historic preservation alone is reason to admire this establishment.